Bayer MaterialScience AG (BMS; Leverkusen, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-546) has developed a new process for producing toluene diisocyanate (TDI), a precursor for making flexible polyurethane foam. Without disclosing details, BMS says the process reduces investment costs by 20–30%, and energy consumption by…
ATMI Life Sciences (ATMI; Hoegaarden, Belgium; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-549) and Pierre Guérin SAS (Mauze sur le Mignon, France; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5830-550) have formed an alliance to design, manufacture and market disposable fermentors and bioreactors. ATMI’s proprietary mixing system (which features a paddle integrated into…
Qatar Petroleum (Doha; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-542) and Norsk Hydro A/S (Oslo, Norway; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-543) have formed a joint venture company, Qatalum, to build and operate what is claimed as the largest, initial-phase greenfield aluminum smelter ever constructed. The smelter will have an annual…
Early next year, Nippoh Chemicals Co. (Tokyo; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5829-532) plans to build a 1,000-m.t./yr plant for producing the pharmaceutical precursor trimethyl orthoacetate (1,1,1-trimethoxyethane). The facility will utilize a continuous-flow, microreactor-based process that Nippoh Chemicals developed in cooperation with professor Jun-ichi Yoshida…
It is now fairly well established that mass- and heat-transfer efficiency, reaction selectivity and yield can be improved using microreactor technology (CE, July 2001, pp. 27–35). But the small channel dimensions (below one square millimeter) that are responsible for the…
Sodium-ion monitoring can prevent steam-turbine corrosion Studies have shown that sodium is one of the most significant contributors to corrosion within turbines, and that such corrosion leads to cracking, embrittlement and ultimately, turbine failure. The Orion Ionplus 2111LL low-level sodium…
A new phosphoric acid that contains less than 100 parts per billion of 30 different metal ions is now commercially available from Febex S.A. (Box, Switzerland; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5828-539), the phosphorous specialties subsidiary of CECA Arkema Group (Paris). The new grade of…
Using a diamond anvil cell to create high (up to 50 GPa) pressures, and a laser to create high (up to 2,000 K) temperatures, researchers from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL; Calif.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/5828-543), the Carnegie Inst. of Washington, and the…
The conventional way to dye textiles is by the so-called dip process, whereby cloth is first immersed into a vat of the dying medium, then removed and dried. The dye is then thermally fixed to the textile by heating to…
Archer Daniels Midland Co. (Decatur, Ill.; edlinks.com/5827-542) plans to build the world’s first commercial plant to produce PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoates), which are high-performance plastics made from renewable resources, such as corn sugar. The plant, to be located at a major ADM…